This summer has been awesome! For the first time since Joey became a teacher (11 years ago) he was actually HOME during his summer break. Normally, he would be doing his summer satellite job the whole break but since his back injury he no longer can do that. He was home with us and it was wonderful! We swam, we went to the movies, we lounged around, we swam, we swam.... is swam a word? I guess I should say we went swimming. My point is...it's been nice. However, due to my recent health issues we didn't plan a family "out of town" vacation because we weren't sure when my surgery was going to happen. Now that it's scheduled for next week we decided to take a quick vacay...and I mean REALLY QUICK! It was kind of a spur of the moment decision to just get out of town for a few days. Some friends in our ward have a cabin outside of Flagstaff so we went up there for a couple days. I'm SO glad we went!
It was in the low 80's... NICE compared to 115 degrees at home! It even clouded up and sprinkled on us a couple times. Only the BEST smell ever! Rain in the mountains ranks right up there with the smell of scotch tape! Mmmmmm.
There was a small lake right next to the cabin. The boys were so excited to try to fish (even though we didn't bring any gear).Gage carved a spear with his knife and was determined to catch a fish.
And he DID! Kind of. He found a fishing line that someone had walked away from with two fish on it. He was so excited! Someone needs to take that boy fishing!
My mom and Tia came along to get out of the heat as well. The cabin was HUGE so there was plenty of room....
While the other peeps were napping and lounging around, Gage, Drey, Avery and I decided to go on a hike. We found a trail that led deep into the woods. I was glad that I remembered to take my camera.
We took lots of "breaks". This annoyed Gage. He's like me and he wants to HIKE...not stroll. Drey and Avery are strollers and liked to stop so Drey could hit trees with a big stick ( I don't know why...he's 10) and so Avery could pick flowers and look for deer tracks. We saw TONS of deer tracks and deer droppings but no deer. We hiked for about an hour and a half and then the conversation turned to whether or not there were bears in the forest. Drey started trying to scare Avery and ended up freaking HIMSELF out! Very soon he was looking into the woods with a concerned look on his face and soon after that he wanted to turn back. The stinker. I realized that we were pretty far into the woods by ourselves and we had drank all our water so we turned back to the cabin.
We spent a lot of time lounging around on the comfy chairs on the deck, reading and eating grapes. Ahhh. This is the life. I could do this every day... forever!
We brought plenty of games to play. Carcassonne, Five Crowns, Sequence...to name a few.
They even had a cool swing in the front yard that the kids had a great time on!
As we were all laying around on the deck, someone ( I think it was my mom) had a great idea. She suggested that we ride up to the Grand Canyon the following day. My kids had never been there and it was only an hour and a half away so we decided to go! It was beautiful and breathtaking and NERVE RACKING! I was a nervous wreck. I guess I thought there would be guardrails and it would be a safe activity. NOPE! There were a few railings but for the most part there weren't. I held Delly pretty much the entire time. I couldn't risk her running away and falling off. I made sure someone was always holding Avery's hand and if the boys even THOUGHT about stepping one foot off of the marked path they would hear me bellowing! Get on the path!! No running! Stay together! Back up! I was a nervous overprotective wreck! I can't say the same for other parents. I can't even begin to describe the idiots who were at the Grand Canyon that day. Parents that were letting their kids run around and play right on the EDGE! Where it's slippery with loose gravel! One mom had her three little kids standing right on the edge so she could take a picture. The boys were elbowing each other and messing around and the little girl (about Dellys age) was just standing there INCHES away from the edge while the mom adjusted the settings on her camera and was not even watching! I was horrified! Even Avery said "Mama, that's not safe." Hello... seven year old was smarter than that lady! People were strolling along the edge, hopping from rock to rock, sitting with their legs dangling off, not paying attention AT ALL! I couldn't believe it. There needs to be some kind of common sense test that you have to pass before being allowed into the Grand Canyon. Seriously. In the visitor center there was a book about all the deaths that have occured there. 600 people have slipped and fallen to their deaths. I was about done after I read that. I was ready to leave. We got some cute pictures, my kids saw the Grand Canyon and I wanted to leave before I witnessed anything tragic. I had nightmares that night as it was.
That's the Grand Canyon behind us....we were having the hardest time getting the pictures to turn out and not wash out the background!
My sister desperately consulting the map in search of a bathroom. It was and emergency (44oz. of Diet Dr. Pepper on the way up) and we were all hurting.
As we were driving home from the Grand Canyon we decided to stop at a deer farm and let the kids pet the deer. I remember doing that when I was a little girl at the same place!
It was in the low 80's... NICE compared to 115 degrees at home! It even clouded up and sprinkled on us a couple times. Only the BEST smell ever! Rain in the mountains ranks right up there with the smell of scotch tape! Mmmmmm.
There was a small lake right next to the cabin. The boys were so excited to try to fish (even though we didn't bring any gear).Gage carved a spear with his knife and was determined to catch a fish.And he DID! Kind of. He found a fishing line that someone had walked away from with two fish on it. He was so excited! Someone needs to take that boy fishing!My mom and Tia came along to get out of the heat as well. The cabin was HUGE so there was plenty of room....While the other peeps were napping and lounging around, Gage, Drey, Avery and I decided to go on a hike. We found a trail that led deep into the woods. I was glad that I remembered to take my camera.
We took lots of "breaks". This annoyed Gage. He's like me and he wants to HIKE...not stroll. Drey and Avery are strollers and liked to stop so Drey could hit trees with a big stick ( I don't know why...he's 10) and so Avery could pick flowers and look for deer tracks. We saw TONS of deer tracks and deer droppings but no deer. We hiked for about an hour and a half and then the conversation turned to whether or not there were bears in the forest. Drey started trying to scare Avery and ended up freaking HIMSELF out! Very soon he was looking into the woods with a concerned look on his face and soon after that he wanted to turn back. The stinker. I realized that we were pretty far into the woods by ourselves and we had drank all our water so we turned back to the cabin.We spent a lot of time lounging around on the comfy chairs on the deck, reading and eating grapes. Ahhh. This is the life. I could do this every day... forever!
We brought plenty of games to play. Carcassonne, Five Crowns, Sequence...to name a few.They even had a cool swing in the front yard that the kids had a great time on!
As we were all laying around on the deck, someone ( I think it was my mom) had a great idea. She suggested that we ride up to the Grand Canyon the following day. My kids had never been there and it was only an hour and a half away so we decided to go! It was beautiful and breathtaking and NERVE RACKING! I was a nervous wreck. I guess I thought there would be guardrails and it would be a safe activity. NOPE! There were a few railings but for the most part there weren't. I held Delly pretty much the entire time. I couldn't risk her running away and falling off. I made sure someone was always holding Avery's hand and if the boys even THOUGHT about stepping one foot off of the marked path they would hear me bellowing! Get on the path!! No running! Stay together! Back up! I was a nervous overprotective wreck! I can't say the same for other parents. I can't even begin to describe the idiots who were at the Grand Canyon that day. Parents that were letting their kids run around and play right on the EDGE! Where it's slippery with loose gravel! One mom had her three little kids standing right on the edge so she could take a picture. The boys were elbowing each other and messing around and the little girl (about Dellys age) was just standing there INCHES away from the edge while the mom adjusted the settings on her camera and was not even watching! I was horrified! Even Avery said "Mama, that's not safe." Hello... seven year old was smarter than that lady! People were strolling along the edge, hopping from rock to rock, sitting with their legs dangling off, not paying attention AT ALL! I couldn't believe it. There needs to be some kind of common sense test that you have to pass before being allowed into the Grand Canyon. Seriously. In the visitor center there was a book about all the deaths that have occured there. 600 people have slipped and fallen to their deaths. I was about done after I read that. I was ready to leave. We got some cute pictures, my kids saw the Grand Canyon and I wanted to leave before I witnessed anything tragic. I had nightmares that night as it was.That's the Grand Canyon behind us....we were having the hardest time getting the pictures to turn out and not wash out the background!
My sister desperately consulting the map in search of a bathroom. It was and emergency (44oz. of Diet Dr. Pepper on the way up) and we were all hurting.
As we were driving home from the Grand Canyon we decided to stop at a deer farm and let the kids pet the deer. I remember doing that when I was a little girl at the same place!
Delly was a little scared at first but soon was letting the deer eat right out of her hand!
I started to feel sprinkles on my feet and I thought "Oh good! It's sprinkling!" Then I looked down and saw that it was a different kind of sprinkle that I was feeling. My sister got "sprinkled on" as well. Not nice.
I could relate to this deer with a goiter. It's not easy having a goiter. The stares. The whispers behind your back. The furtive glances..trying to look at it but not be seen looking at it. At least I'm getting mine removed next week! We had a moment....this deer and I. We bonded.
I could have stayed up in the mountains a few more days. I think we all could. But there was no way we were going to miss going to see WICKED! We had tickets for Thursday night. No boys. Just a girls night out. We started it off right with Wicked pedicures......
Followed by dinner at Nello's. Always a treat.......
Followed by the greatest show ever...WICKED! It was awesome. This whole week has been awesome. It was a much needed break. Time to get back to real life!
I started to feel sprinkles on my feet and I thought "Oh good! It's sprinkling!" Then I looked down and saw that it was a different kind of sprinkle that I was feeling. My sister got "sprinkled on" as well. Not nice.
I could relate to this deer with a goiter. It's not easy having a goiter. The stares. The whispers behind your back. The furtive glances..trying to look at it but not be seen looking at it. At least I'm getting mine removed next week! We had a moment....this deer and I. We bonded.
I could have stayed up in the mountains a few more days. I think we all could. But there was no way we were going to miss going to see WICKED! We had tickets for Thursday night. No boys. Just a girls night out. We started it off right with Wicked pedicures......Followed by dinner at Nello's. Always a treat.......Followed by the greatest show ever...WICKED! It was awesome. This whole week has been awesome. It was a much needed break. Time to get back to real life!
3 comments:
The mountains look so beautiful! What a much needed break.
Wicked! No Fair! I want to see it so bad! Girls nights are the best! I want to get with you before your surgery! Let me know what works.
Quite the post. How fun. We always enjoy going to flag. So glad you got to see Wicked. One of my fave plays.
It looks like you had a great week, I'm glad you got out of the heat it's been pretty brutal. I wish I could have seen Wicked, lucky girl.
Post a Comment